Much to the dismay, no doubt, of pub owners throughout London, a chicken dish has dethroned fish and chips as the city's single-most popular restaurant meal. A recent study there revealed that the new collective favorite in London restaurants is none other than chicken tikka masala, that rich Indian comfort food served at Indian restaurants everywhere.
Tikka is the Hindi word for cutlets, or pieces; masala, the word for spices. Some food historians claim it is a London invention, while others believe it could be a Mogul recipe dating to the 18th century. Regardless, chicken tikka masala has become the one dish by which every Indian restaurant is ultimately measured, and it can range from a rich, tomato-based curry with a perplexing orange color to a light, buttery stew the simple color of cream.